Long Hair not permitted on boys?

TenPenny

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A story from the AP makes one wonder about how silly some schools are:
The parents of a four-year-old boy disciplined for having long hair have rejected a compromise from a Texas school board that agreed to adjust its grooming policy.
The impasse means pre-kindergartner Taylor Pugh will remain in in-school suspension, sitting alone with a teacher's aide in a library. He has been sequestered from classmates at Floyd Elementary School in Mesquite, a Dallas suburb, since late November.
After a closed-door meeting Monday, the Mesquite school board decided the boy could wear his hair in tight braids but keep it no longer than his ears. But his parents say the adjustment isn't enough for Taylor, who wears his hair long, covering his earlobes and shirt collar.
His mother, Elizabeth Taylor, said she'll pull back Taylor's hair in a ponytail, acknowledging the style will keep him suspended.
“If I braid his hair, his scalp will bleed and his hair will break,” Elizabeth Taylor said after the meeting.
According to the district dress code, boys' hair must be kept out of the eyes and cannot extend below the bottom of earlobes or over the collar of a dress shirt. Fads in hairstyles “designed to attract attention to the individual or to disrupt the orderly conduct of the classroom or campus is not permitted,” the policy states.
The district is known for standing tough on its dress code. Last year, a seventh-grader was sent home for wearing black skinny pants. His parents chose to home-school him.
On its website, the district says its code is in place because “students who dress and groom themselves neatly, and in an acceptable and appropriate manner, are more likely to become constructive members of the society in which we live.”
Ms. Taylor said her fight is not over. She and her husband are considering taking the district to court or appealing to the State Board of Education.
“I know that there are a whole set of steps we can take,” she said.
 

#juan

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After a closed-door meeting Monday, the Mesquite school board decided the boy could wear his hair in tight braids but keep it no longer than his ears. But his parents say the adjustment isn't enough for Taylor, who wears his hair long, covering his earlobes and shirt collar.

"wears his hair long, covering his earlobes????? and shirt collar". This is Kindergarten after all, and these people obviously have too much time on their hands.
 

TenPenny

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It's an interesting comparison - you're allowed to carry a loaded hand gun, because that's your right, but you're not allowed to go to school with long hair, if you're a boy.

Some people seem threatened by the oddest things.
 

petros

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Nov 21, 2008
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It's an interesting comparison - you're allowed to carry a loaded hand gun, because that's your right, but you're not allowed to go to school with long hair, if you're a boy.

Some people seem threatened by the oddest things.
See the Rapture Ready thread and follow the rapture ready link and you'll know why the gun is okay but the hair is a no-no.
 

AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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A story from the AP makes one wonder about how silly some schools are:
Really!
Perhaps they should also adapt a policy for the width of their teachers' butts that says they shouldn't have a butt width wider than any chair width in the school.

Floyd Photo Gallery​
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Floyd Choir visits MISD[/FONT]

Or teachers that are indistinguishable from hippopotami. Floyd Elementary School
 

taxslave

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Nov 25, 2008
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My mother told me the same thing when I was a lad. As usual if she had kept her mouth shut I probably would have cut it more than once every two years.We had this problem in elementary school with a teacher that belonged to some wingnut religion. SHe took one kid home and cut his hair. Oddly enough in the sixties this did not get her fired.
I would assume that pictures of jesus are not allowed in Texas either since he had longer hair than me. Come to think of it all the pictures of god and Santa have long hair too. No toys for xmas.
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
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The heads of the school need to grab a brain. It's hair! It's not like he's bringing a beer in for lunch break.
 

lone wolf

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Nov 25, 2006
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Geez.... I fought that fight forty years ago. Hang in there little dude! Fight the power! Guess it's just as safe to say don't trust anyone over thirty like I thought back then.
 

wulfie68

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Mar 29, 2009
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This situation boggles the mind when there are so many other issues to be dealt with, even in the realm of kindergarten level education...
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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From the Opening Post, If I braid his hair, his scalp will bleed and his hair
will break,” Elizabeth Taylor said after the meeting. Huh? His scalp will bleed?
Will the Mother braid this kids hair with a power tool?

This boy is in pre-kindergarten and is four years old, and is now segregated.
The whole situation is just crazy on both sides of the issue. Common sense
for common ground is surely lacking here....
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
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Well yeah, there is the other side of the coin...having some sort of dress code or grooming policy doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. Don't know what all the fuss is about...

I think I'd be a bit more concerned about other issues like the quality of education, teachers, classroom facilities, etc.

Some countries actually FORCE the children to wear uniforms to school...Imagine!
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
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From the Opening Post, If I braid his hair, his scalp will bleed and his hair
will break,” Elizabeth Taylor said after the meeting. Huh? His scalp will bleed?
Will the Mother braid this kids hair with a power tool?

This boy is in pre-kindergarten and is four years old, and is now segregated.
The whole situation is just crazy on both sides of the issue. Common sense
for common ground is surely lacking here....
I noticed the "his scalp will bleed" also and wondered how hard she was going to pull his hair so that his scalp would bleed. I have braided both my granddaughter's hair and never once have I drawn blood! Actually, if a person braids their hair while it's wet, and then let's it dry with the braids in, it looks quite curly when the braids come out.
While I believe there isn't any reason the child cannot have his hair a little longer if he wants it to be, rules are rules and what they are teaching him at his young age is that it's alright to break the rules. At this tender age, I think it's his parents who simply don't want his hair cut and I seriously doubt he would be traumitized by it. He is learning that his parents will do all they can to break the rules for him though.
In my initial take on this I said that it's only hair but in re-thinking it, it's not just hair. It's a tough rule by the school but the parents had to know that rule going in and it's totally wrong of them to teach him that school rules are made to be broken.
 

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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Well yeah, there is the other side of the coin...having some sort of dress code or grooming policy doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. Don't know what all the fuss is about...

Indeed; I think that all women and girls should be required to cover their faces and heads while out in public.
 

TenPenny

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rules are rules and what they are teaching him at his young age is that it's alright to break the rules.

The school system is teaching kids that it's okay to enforce pointless rules about hair and dress codes, and to discriminate on the basis of gender. If the school system can enforce rules about short hair for boys, then they can enforce rules about the hijab for girls/women. What does that say about society?

It's utterly stupid.

To those who are defending this practice, do you believe that muslim women should be forced to cover their faces when out in public? If not, why do you think it's any different?
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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The school said 'tight' braids. If my daughter had to have her hair in 'tight' braids every day, her scalp would suffer too. Sensitive skin can be like that.
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
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The school said 'tight' braids. If my daughter had to have her hair in 'tight' braids every day, her scalp would suffer too. Sensitive skin can be like that.
Yes but there is tight and then there is tight. I am assuming they meant tight enough that the braids would not instantly fall out during play time. In pre-school, it's pretty much all play time.